Election 2017: Labour triumphs in London again

It was a national election that no party won: the Conservatives misfired disastrously and Labour remains a long way from power. But in the capital, Labour has triumphed again. Before polling stations opened yesterday morning, the big question was about how resilient the party’s defences would be against a Tory advance. As many as nine Labour seats had looked vulnerable. In the end, Labour actually made gains at the expense of the Tories, who also lost out overall to the Liberal Democrats.

Before the election, Labour had 45 of London’s 73 constituencies, the Conservatives had 26 and the Lib Dems two. The score now is:

Labour 49 (up 4)

Conservatives 21 (down 5)

Lib Dems 3 (up 1)

Seven seats have changed hands.

Labour took Battersea, Croydon Central, Enfield Southgate and Kensington from the Tories while recording decisive victories in all the marginal seats that had seemed so susceptible before polling stations opened. Battersea had been a Labour target in 2015, yet seen Jane Ellison strengthen her position. Now, Labour’s Marsha De Cordova is its MP with a majority of 2,416. Sarah Jones removed Gavin Barwell, defending the smallest majority in the city, from Croydon Central at the second attempt. Enfield Southgate’s utterly unexpected switch from blue to red, recalls the famous downfall of Michael Portillo in the 1997 Tony Blair landslide. Emma Dent Coad, a tireless opposition Labour councillor in Royal Kensington and Chelsea, is the first ever Labour winner of Kensington. The margin was 20 votes, following three recounts. Meanwhile, Rupa Huq strolled home in Ealing Central and Acton by 13,807. She had a cushion of just 274. Astonishing.

The Conservatives recorded a single gain, with Zac Goldsmith re-capturing Richmond Park from the Lib Dems’ Sarah Olney by a mere 45 votes. A truer story of the Tories’ night is the number of seemingly impregnable seats that have now been rendered marginal by Labour: arch Brexiter Theresa Villiers held seemingly rock solid Chipping Barnet by just 353.

The Lib Dems added to Conservative woes with Sir Vince Cable re-taking Twickenham having lost it in 2015 and Sir Ed Davey doing the same in Kingston and Surbiton. Their third comeback knight, Sir Simon Hughes, was well and truly buried by Neil Coyle in Bermondsey and Old Southwark but Tom Brake will be delighted to have held Carhsalton and Wallington yet again against what he had described as probably his toughest defence yet.

On London is run by Dave Hill, formerly the Guardian's award-winning London commentator, and written by him and an array of fellow Londoncentrics. It aims to improve the quality of coverage of London politics, development and culture.